K-ROCK CENTRE (REGIONAL SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE) ARCHIVE
Naming Rights Backgrounder
ALSO IN THIS SECTION
Return to the K-Rock Centre Archive's main site.
Return to the K-Rock Centre home page.
DOWNLOADS
The City's Corporate Assets Naming Policy (approved June 2004).
[
PDF
20KB]
The City's Corporate Sponsorhip Policy (approved June 2004).
[
PDF
21KB]
PDF HELP
The freely available Adobe Reader software can be used to view the PDF documents on the City of Kingston Web site.
[ Download]
Here's an overview of the City's plans to manage naming rights for the Kingston Regional Sports and Entertainment Centre.
WHAT ARE NAMING RIGHTS?
The City of Kingston has policies [Note: See Downloads At Right] which provide for a number of sorts of sponsorships, including naming rights. Naming rights are generally part of a sponsorship agreement following negotiations. These rights can include such things as the right to name a building, box seats, season tickets, corporate suites, signage, etc. They can also include the obligation for the firm obtaining the naming right under sponsorship to pay for the costs of displaying the selected name.
Through its sponsorship policy, the City is interested in exploring proposals in relationship to the Kingston Regional Sports and Entertainment Centre. A professional firm is expected to be contracted by the end of August to assist the municipality and the operator in identifying potential sponsors to purchase naming rights for the Kingston Regional Sports and Entertainment Centre.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
The sale of naming rights creates a "win-win" opportunity for both the municipality and the corporate sponsor. Each year the municipality will receive revenues from the sale based on a minimum 10-year contract. This revenue will help the municipality meet debt obligations related to construction as well as brand the facility with a unique identification.
The corporate sponsor purchasing the naming rights is purchasing the right to market its products or services to people attending the facility as well as to provincial, national and international audiences. The sponsor will benefit from the more than 300,000 people expected to visit the facility each year, a large percentage of whom will come from outside the city's boundaries. Sponsorship also provides an opportunity to corporations to reinforce the image of a responsible corporate citizen.
The Major Junior A teams of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) receive more television coverage than any other amateur or professional sport in the country. The Kingston Frontenacs, a CHL hockey team and long-term tenant of the facility, will bring this television coverage to the region. This, coupled with significant press coverage, will provide an opportunity to showcase the facility's name, as well as its well-designed appearance and many amenities.
The Kingston Regional Sports and Entertainment Centre is designed to be the first facility of its type in North America to receive a "Silver" designation from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), an internationally recognized standard for sustainable building. This makes it a flagship for environmental leadership.
HOW MUCH MONEY WILL BE RAISED THROUGH NAMING RIGHTS?
The final naming rights package will include additional costs such as box seats and signage and is expected to be much higher than the conservative estimate of $150,000 outlined in the facility's business plan.
The sale of naming rights for important municipally owned facilities such as sports, entertainment, and arts and culture buildings, is a common practice. The Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ont., and the John Labatt Centre in London, Ont., are municipal facilities with similar purposes to the Kingston Regional Sports and Entertainment Centre and both were named through the sale of naming rights.
And, while naming rights for the overall London facility were sold to Labatt Brewing Co., in addition the RBC Financial Group purchased naming rights for theatre events. The sponsor for theatre events at the Kingston Regional Sports and Entertainment Centre will receive wide recognition through a broad variety of professional musical and theatre productions attracted by the facility's first-class acoustics.
The City of London receives $250,000 from both Labatt Brewing Co. and RBC Financial Group and gives each company exclusive rights to market their products and display appropriate signage. Additional benefits include use of a private suite and broad exposure for their brand name. Owning the naming rights for the Kingston Regional Sports and Entertainment Centre will provide similar benefits to the chosen sponsor.
CONTACT INFORMATION
If your company is interested in naming this signature facility, please email your contact information to Lanie Hurdle at LHurdle@cityofkingston.ca.
